Dussehra Satsang at Art of Living

Few days back J was sporting a status message regarding Bangalore. I was intrigued & asked her the reason. She said she was going to come to the Art of Living (AoL) ashram here. That's the ashram of gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (SSRS). I had heard a lot about this AoL. Seemed different from other babas. Had travelled on the road to ashram many times but had never ventured in. When J told that they would be celebrating the Navaratri/Dussehra there and its awesome I decided to go visit the place. And I could meet J too.

Nothing could have prepared me for what I experienced there. The place was full of people, easily more than 5000. That too on a Sunday evening. The satsang was to begin at 1630. I had reached there at 1615. Informed J of my arrival and took a walk around the campus. Beautiful, peaceful, majestic. But again, going by how my mind works, I checked out the car parking. Lo and behold, so many big machines. The meditation hall was huge. It was closed, could not see from inside. I still had time when I saw a store selling books and CDs. I wanted to buy some book, to read what SSRS had to say. But I was not allowed in. They had closed the entry. Would reopen at 1830, i.e. after the satsang. Hmmm, am sure the shop keepers too wanted to join that satsang. Can there be any other reason?

Any way on the way back to the yagyanshala, found a makeshift book stall. Fortunately it was still open. Went in, browsed through and a picked up the book "Wisdom for the New Millennium". Will share the contents once I read it. At first I made my self comfortable at the rear. But then J said there was enough space in front, so ventured there.

The music was good. Lyrics were in praise of the Gods. Right after the the first song, there was a product launch. Some ayurvedic beauty products were launched by Pitaji. The whole launch looked like a commercial break, between the songs. It was so incongruous. But the people there enjoyed that too. And hey forgot to mention that the place was full of young people. Most were in the age group of 25-35. I was surprised by this. I also did find many young couples, having a good time in the park there.

Coming back to the satsang, the songs followed after the product launch. The genre changed from Indian classical to pop and folk. Even a foreigner sang in Hindi, in the praise of Shiva. He played the guitar too. The tempo picked, it reached a crescendo and people started dancing. Dancing with joy. The dances looked more from the floor of a discotheque and Garba groups. Whatever may be the purpose of the music, it was absolutely enjoyable.

In due course SSRS arrived, he spoke in Kannada, Hindi and English. Oh that reminds of another incident. While I went to take a seat in front, I noticed an area that was relatively empty. I was going there when a lady came from behind and asked for my ID. She politely told me that that particular area was for the international devotees. I was asked to sit in the Indian section. Dear Mr T was castigated for "cattle class" comment, by that standards, the managementn of AoL may be jailed perhaps. Any way, i could only get a seat very near to the international class. But I was surprised to see Indians there. And one of the girls was gorgeous.

SSRS spoke about the importance of "ayudha" (instruments) in our life. He asked to respect all in the world. He also asked to respect and protect nature. Unlike Gandhi ji, SSRS was not averse to the use of "dand" (violence), but only when other modes fail. There was a frenzy in the people to touch him. People ran along his car. Fortunately no one was overrun.

It was a good visit. I learnt about the people who visit AoL. My doubts the whole institution still persist. Am difficult to convince. Thank you J, but for you I would not have visited the ashram so soon.

Of Holy Cows & Cattle Class

This is a topic I have been avoiding commenting. But what the heck, here I go ...

Mr T was asked by a journo if he would travel to K by "cattle class". To which Mr T replied that he would indeed, to show solidarity with the "holy cows". After this dialog the media is abuzz with comments and counter comments on the phrase "cattle class", used by Mr T. I think the debates should have been on the use of the phrase "holy cows". Here is the rationale.

Calling the general public "cattle" is a folly that no journo or minister would commit. More so in the biggest democracy. It will simple be a harakiri. The reference, as explained by Mr T, was to the crampy economy class not the economy class traveler. There seems no other plausible reason for the use if such phrase.

But the icing on the cake was Mr T's use of "holy cows". Obviously, this referred to the traveler of the economy class. To be precise he referred to the newly inspired MPs (may be of a particular party) who are on a austerity drive. Apparently to show that "aam aadmi" that their representatives too are "aam". Mr T must have sensed a hypocrisy in all this and took the political class by the jugular. Unfortunately the whole comment has been made to look like an insult of the "aam aadmi", which it is not.

Mr T, I did read your tweet clarifying the joke (sic). But perhaps you should have clarified on "holy cows" not "cattle class". So many Bookers not withstanding, we still need to go a long way in our linguistic abilities.

Mr T, I salute you.

Dinner at goVeg

Those of you who have been following me on Facebook know that I was alone yesterday. The friend with whom I share the apartment has gone home and the friend who lives upstairs is also out with his relatives. So, there I was all with myself.

Since the above prospect was not very bright so got up late in the morning. Although I have a marathon coming up, am not very regular at running. The reasons are many, but we can discuss them later.

Coming back to yesterday I spent the whole day inside the house, yes that was a first for me. Not to have ventured out all day when I was not sick. Most of the day was spent watching TV, having little food and chatting. Man U vs Man C was fantastic. The moment it was over my tummy complained. It needed food. If not for the tummy, I would have watched more TV and dozed off on the bean bags. Good sense prevailed and I finally went out for dinner. Decided to go to goVeg the new eatery.

The place was almost full. Did find a place for myself though. Ordered a full combo, the biggest combo available. I was really hungry. Had I been carrying the Blackberry, I would not have noticed what I noticed next. Just a row ahead of my table, on the column to my left were these two girls. They were having some kachoris. Am bad at guessing ages of girls, so no comment on that. These two well heeled. Did not look starved but were sure of the generation Y. While I waited for my dinner they got a big plate of kebabs. They seemed to be excited. I was worried. I had never seen GenY girls ordering so much food. Any way while I waited, they finished kachoris and started with kebabs. The waiters were eager to help the ladies, we in India respect the feminine. Anyway I had no choice but to wait. And finally my plate came, big and nice. I lost no time in devouring it. I had just started eating and the girls had not finished the kebabs even half, when they received another round of food. This time it was the same jumbo combo. I thought it was some mistake. But no, they sure had ordered for it. Now I was amused. Would they really eat that? Slowed down my eating to know what they were going to do. The girls could somehow finish the kebabs, big achievement, and then asked the jumbo combo to be packed. Yes they got the whole thing packed. Perhaps it was a simple case of wrong estimation of food and appetite. Meanwhile, I finished my dinner and drove back home.

Resolution: Will not carry my phone when I go out to dine next.

Am back ...

Hello friends, am back. Sorry for the long hiatus. It was partly forced and partly voluntary. Mostly forced, was not having anything to write about. And then things happened, I had stopped writing. There is a long gap in my diary too. Anyway, I think am back to the old ways ...

During April-Jun period, I was in Mumbai. Many would say that its the worst time to be in that city, but I still liked it. Its a huge city. Bangalore can at best be called a township when compared to Mumbai. But Mumbai is a city of contrasts.

The things I liked about Mumbai ...

1. Food - Leopold, Theobroma, Baghdadi, Anand Juice Centre

2. People - Auto wallahs, professional, truthful

3. Places - Colaba, Marind drive

4. Theatres - Prithvi

5. Transport - Local trains

The things I did not like about Mumbai ...

1. Poverty

2. Slums

3. Beggars

4. Filth

5. Pace of life - too fast

Would I go there again? Yes, definitely.